'Double standards': Analysts note 'discrepancy between the kind of bullying' Trump co-defendant can do

15 November 2023

Harrison Floyd, a co-defendant in the Georgia election fraud case faced a motion from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis Wednesday asking a judge to revoke his bond over social media posts that she says "amount to witness intimidation."

MSNBC's Joy Reid, speaking to legal analyst Lisa Rubin, noted highlighted the fact that Floyd could now "wind up in jail," emphasizing "that is not something that Donald Trump has faced even though he, too, has intimidated witnesses. Did his lawyers bring that up in this case? Because it's interesting that he's doing what Donald Trump is doing but not facing the same, you know, freedom to move."

Rubin replied, "This motion was filed after today's hearing, and so, I'm not aware that anybody addressed what conduct Donald Trump has engaged in that might, for example, violate his own conditions of release vis-a-vis the other Fulton County defendants and witnesses. That having been said, the Fulton County DA lays out a number of acts over the last two weeks in particular between November 1st and November 14th where Harrison Floyd, as you noted, has gone after a number of his co-defendants or witnesses. In particular, really attacking [former Trump attorney] Jenna Ellis, and I'm looking at one of the tweets right now, two days ago, saying that she was lying on [former Trump advisor] Dan Scavino and 'I guess they don't teach ethics at Harvard Law anymore.' As an aside, Jenna Ellis did not go to Harvard law school."

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She continued, "But, the larger point is that Harrison Floyd has engaged in a two-week long campaign to intimidate and fight back against people involved in this case, ranging from [co-defendants] Brad Raffensperger and Gabe Sterling and Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell. And finally the motion ends with a litany of his tweets, aimed squarely at Ruby Freeman, who is the person that he victimized in the first place, leading to the charges against him, and who he continues to victimize and was probably the most offensive conduct that he engaged in, according to DA Fani Willis' team. I look forward to seeing how this motion is litigated, but this is just the opening salvo that we have here right now, Joy."

Asking former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade to comment, Reid noted "the thing is that Donald Trump — the problem with his behavior is that it is infectious. That other people who are MAGA think they can do what he can do, but he was the former president of the United States. He's not a black guy who is the head of Black Voices for Trump. This guy has already been jailed for his previous conduct that was violent-ish. and he was the one who was in jail, the only one who was actually jailed prior to his plea. He's now attacking the same person he's accused of intimidating, bullying her again, continuing to victimize her. It's a wonder he hasn't already been put back in jail, however there is a discrepancy between the kind of bullying that he can do."

The MSNBC host then asked McQuade to "address the discrepancy in the sanctions" against both Trump and Floyd.

She replied, in the "George RICO case, there's not currently any sort of gag order like the one we've seen in the federal election interference case or the one in New York. So, that's not what the concern is here. One of his bond conditions is that he not communicate about the case with any of his co-defendants or witnesses. And so I think this conduct directed toward Ruby Freeman is particularly problematic with that bond condition, as we just heard from Lisa, she was the direct victim. He tried to intimidate her and coerce her into confessing falsely that she had violated and committed fraud in the election when, of course, that wasn't true at all. And so, that sort of intimidation it goes to the very heart of this case."

McQuade continued, "So, I don't imagine that at the very first instance the judge's first instinct will be to cancel his bond and put him in jail. But I think it's important that the judge send a message that he takes these conditions very seriously, and so I imagine we will see him in court with at least a warning and a second violation may land him in jail. And of course, as you point out, Donald Trump says all kinds of things about people, including about people who might be witnesses or might be co-defendants. And so it seems that it's Fani Willis who is giving him a slightly longer leash. And I imagine part of that is because, as a candidate for president in the future, judges are likely to be inclined to give him a little more leeway so that he can respond in the public arena to these charges against him."

The ex-U.S. attorney emphasized, "But, I think you raise a good point about treating like people alike, and I think Fani Willis has to be careful not to be seen as holding herself to double standards."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Double standards': Analyst on 'discrepancy between the kind of bullying' Trump co-defendant can doyoutu.be

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